Dallas fans seem pretty down on Boucher. Of course, given Pens' fans attitudes about certain players, that kind of thing isn't always very accurate. I think we probably should caution our expectations for Boucher. There's a reason Dallas would make this trade. The grass may not be greener on the other side. He's depth first and hopefully more. I can't really argue with their approach with the deal. They know what the market for Sydor is. If nobody was willing to take on his contract and give up a pick, this is still a worthy direction as they're moving laterally at worst and potentially getting an upgrade.

NJ5934 wrote:Theres no way Whitney gets moved at this point. The guy is locked in for another 5 years and his contract will be a steal in another year. In this day and age you just don't move great contracts.

Unless its a can't refuse offer like Dustin Brown, I think Whitney stays. We're more likely to see Gonchar traded than Whit.

Boucher is a really nice addition at this point, especially considering it didn't cost us anything.

Considering how much offensive d-men got in free agency, Whitney's contract is already a steal.

I think the only way you can use that lineup is if: 1) Whitney comes back at another level, 2) Boucher bounces back to 06-07 standards or at least close to it, and 3) Goligoski improves in his own end. Skill on the back end is a luxury these days but you still have to balance it out. Scuderi and Gill have been huge on the PK and in turn the improved PK has been a big part of this team's heightened success since the deadline last year. I'd be hesitant to break that up. At least one of the two has to be in the lineup for the playoffs.

Yeah there is no way that happens imo. The Pens cant have 5 offensive minded D out there every night. Gill and Scuds are very valuable to this team and I can't see either of them sitting for more then a few games. Didnt MT say early this year Gill was a top 4 D out of all 9? I think some people are just too quick to jump on the Gogo bandwagon. Sure he got the S/o winner the other day and had the sweet PP goal last night, but his defense has been less then stellar imo. We can chalk this up to a learning experience for now, but once the playoffs roll around they won't care if he's young or not. They'll want the guys who can get the job done.

My guess is we won't have much of a problem as there always seems to be injuries.

Karl_Racki wrote:So he doesn't have to pass waivers until he is in his 3rd season or have played 80 games?

Why did Bissonnette have to pass?

Because he is in his 4th professional season? I think thats why he has to clear, but even after reading the CBA section on it, i'm confused. In fact, I'm more confused after reading it.

Right, it appears Bissonnette signed in 2005 making him 20 when that happened so he had 2 years/160 games. This would be year #4 now. Same thing happened with Stone and Filewich as they also each had 3 years of waiver eligibility.

If he can stay healthy, he is fairly physical and has some nice offensive skills. I think he will definitely supplant Eaton in the rotation, because he is righty and a has a cannon shot that they will want in the lineup for the one of the PP points. It may also mean that Malkin will move back up front on the PP and let him work with Goligoski on the other point.

The second unit just got another talented forward dropped down to it as well if Malkin moves up.

If you take a guy from the Press Box and turn him into a PP point man and top 6 D, there is a very positive ripple effect. Great deal with little risk, since even if Boucher gets injured Sydor wasn't playing anyway and Whitney should be back soon.

I do not think that the idea was to get Boucher. Shero was doing Sydor a solid by moving him off the team. In order for Dallas to absorb Sydor's $2.5M they needed to move at least $2M out. Apparently Boucher wasn't in Dallas' plans much like Sydor was not in the Penguin's plans.

I do not see this trade as an attempt to improve the Penguins. I see it as the team making a statement that they are willing to help their players (Sydor) when said player is genuinly in a bad spot. This trade in NO WAY hurts the Penguins, but I do not feel that improving the team played any real part in the deal.

(Above is a repost into the correct thread for the context)

Although Boucher is no slouch... people need to remember that he was traded one-for-one for Sydor. Dallas did not make this trade as a salary dump or for extrea picks or whatever. Boucher was not really working out to their expectations. A new team and teammates might do both guys a lot of good, but I would not expect a sudden star player to come in as replacement for an oft-scratched player.

no more orpik fumbling around on the 2nd unit. i like ya brooks, but the words "puck" and "hand grenade" have been to closely tied to your game this year.

there goes his career year in points.speaking of Brooks Orpik, quotes from today's trib in appreciate of D Sydor:

"The guy played over 1,100 games and has two Cup rings. He wasn't playing a lot, but he was working hard every day on and off the ice and being a great teammate. The tendency for 95 percent of the guys in his situation would be to go the other way."Darryl chose to go about it the right way."

Dickie Dunn wrote:I don't know if Sydor would be classified as a locker room cancer, but he was a disturbance and the coaching staff holds him, Recchi, and Roberts partially responsible for Staal's play last season because they were an extremely negative influence on him.